Shares of 3PAR Inc rose 15 percent Monday on a report in Barron's that the data storage company is setting itself up as an attractive takeover target for larger tech companies.

3PAR, which competes with larger rivals such as EMC Corp , International Business Machines Corp and Hitachi, has succeeded in growing revenue by introducing cheaper and more advanced technologies, which the competitors initially ignored and only now are beginning to match, Barron's said.

And, if the big players really want to play catch up, one of them might just acquire 3PAR, perhaps at double the current stock price, it said, citing recent acquisitions in the field made by large tech companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc .

Data storage is a $14 billion-a-year business, and as demand grows, bigger data storage companies might eye 3PAR, said the report in the December 28 edition of Barron's.

Shares of the Fremont, California-based company rose to $11.87 in morning trade Monday to be the top percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange. It pared some gains to trade up 10 percent at $11.34.

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